Bhopal: woman lives with dead sister for five days

A woman was found living with her sister for five days even after the latter’s death at their New Market flat. The last rites of the woman were performed on Tuesday after police intervention.

Radha Agarwal, 55, died five days ago and her sister, Saraswati was living in their Betwa apartment flat with the body around her, until the neighbours had informed the police on Monday on getting troubled by stench emanating from the flat.

Their brother, Hiralal Agarwal, who lives in Indore, had come here to claim the body. The body was in a highly decomposed state. After post-mortem examination, the last rites were performed.

Agarwal took away the younger sister, Saraswati, 42, along to Indore. The sisters were living in this flat for decades. The flat is reportedly owned by a jeweller with whom the sisters' family had business interests. Also, the sisters owned a flat in Indore and its rent was enough for their sustenance.

Town inspector (TI) Sudhir Arjaria said the post-mortem report viscera had been preserved for further examination. Police sources said the initial post-mortem report didn't point towards anything suspicious.

The deceased's kin had to wait for hours before the post-mortem began. A woman doctor refused to conduct the post-mortem. There was no suspicion of foul play (or suicide), though, doctors didn't rule out possibility of cardiac arrest. The complete post-mortem report is awaited though.

Sources said the viscera have been preserved for more tests so that possibility of poisoning is explored. The samples would be sent for forensic tests. Radha and her sister Saraswati lived in flat number 66 of Betwa Apartment at Roshanpura.

The sisters didn't interact with neighbours. The residents were not aware about how they managed to sustain themselves as they seemed to have no source of income. It was the stench emanating from the flat that had drawn attention of the neighbours.

When the police stepped in the house, they found Saraswati sitting beside the body of her sister. She had been staying with the body for almost five days. Sarswati suffers from psychological issues. The TT Nagar police are conducting investigation in this regard.

In 2010, in the Saket area of Delhi. a mentally ill woman was found living with her dead mother for four months following the latter's death.